About

Gateway: Uprising is a unique deck-building card game with board game elements centered around a fantastical city called Gateway.

The game takes place during a brutal Inquisition initiated by the dictator of Gateway, Chancellor Gideon. A war hero and prophet of a long-forgotten deity called Daeus, Chancellor Gideon views magic as a sacred gift of the gods, not meant for the hands of mere mortals, so he desires to abolish Magic for everyone but himself. This Inquisition threatens the very foundation of Gateway - a city built on magic.

Each player represents a band of insurgent wizards determined to take back their city one district at a time, all the while dealing with the constant threat of the ever-present City-Guards, Inquisitors and a horde of marauding monsters infiltrating the city's defenses.

A band of insurgent wizards meeting in secret

Each player begins with the game with the same starter resources of basic insurgent wizards, merchants, and a magical Runestone - but from there the similarities end. Players will draft new wizards, heroes, and magical creatures into their ranks, building up an army to defeat and defend the different districts of Gateway.

Gateway District Tiles

After successfully liberating a district, the player gains access to its unusual power, such as cheaper resources, additional defenses, or even the ability to magically damage foes from afar. Be warned: Not only will other rebel insurgents attempt to steal your districts away from you, but you'll also have to battle against the forces of Chancellor Gideon and an invading onslaught of terrible monsters called the Drueggar.

To aid you in this are Runestones - powerful one-time-use spells that can turn the tide of battle instantly or provide the player with a temporary boost to his coffers. However, once used, Runestones become empty shells and are discarded for the remainder of the game.

To win the game, players must collect victory points by defeating the city guard and Drueggar Horde, controlling important districts, or through special insurgent abilities they draft into their ranks. Don't delay and play the waiting game -- if the Drueggar manage to take all the city districts, it’s game over for both the insurgents and the innocent citizens of Gateway!

For 2 to 3 players. Takes about a half hour to learn, games can range anywhere from a half hour to an hour of playtime.

Use the "Fishmancer" card to summon the irksome beardfish into your opponent's deck.

Gateway: Uprising is jam-packed with cards, game tokens and district tiles covered in unique artwork depicting the city of Gateway and its inhabitants.

Our first and main goal is to get funding for the base game because we believe once you play it and experience the World of Gateway, you will want more!

That said, we do have some ideas for awesome stretch goals - here are just a few:

An upgrade to the card and game piece materials.

Molded trays for the game contents

Expansion packs - each themed around a new city district with new cards and district tiles.

Playmat packs

Hiring other amazing illustrators to contribute to the artwork for Gateway: Uprising. Several awesome artists have already expressed interest in working on Gateway! More on this later!

The Great City of Gateway is a city like no other - larger and more diverse than any of our own, Gateway's denizens hail from every corner of "The Known Worlds." It rests in a uniquely advantageous location: at the mouth of the river Aren (a major trade route); in the shadow of the Arcanian mountains, the "birthplace of the gods;" and at the nexus of several very powerful magical ley-lines.

Map of Central Gateway with only major districts and avenues depicted

This last factor is what has made Gateway a destination for the magically inclined. The vast deposits of magical energy, known as "arcaea", are easily accessed here, making it a place of wonder and amazement - buildings and spires reach incredible heights, streets are teeming with an incredible array of people, cultures and creatures of every possible type, and markets overflow with a variety of goods, trinkets, and magical items unparalleled in any other city.

Every district of Gateway contains new and fascinating marvels, each a world unto its own.

A major shipping canal in Gateway's Warehouse Row district

But the richness and wonder of life in Gateway is under threat - from the very powers that preside over it. Using the threat of looming apocalypse at the hands of monstrous hordes, the Chancellor and his Inquisitors have used fear to turn Gateway's citizens against those who practice and teach "free magic", forcing them underground.

Will the Chancellor be victorious in his quest to usurp all magical energy for his own selfish purposes? Or will you rise up, and help to take Gateway back, one block at a time?

Meet the folks who are making this game happen!

John Hawkins - Designer

John Hawkins is a game designer who has been in the industry for over a dozen years. It all started with a lot of “Age of Empires 2” playing in college, which actually did lead to a job. John has worked on many titles, including “Rise of Nations”, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning”, and most recently “DomiNations.”

An avid game creator across different formats and genres, John currently focuses on mobile and board games. He also has a passion for game jams, most recently participating in the Global Game Jam and Nordic Game Jam.

John lives in Hollywood, FL, with his wife Daryl, son Jack, and their two dogs Tiberius and Spock.

Michelle Menard - Designer

Michelle Menard is a game designer, author of Game Development with Unity, and founder of Artemic Games. Michelle has previously worked in the casual, mobile, and AAA market, including for companies such as Firaxis Games and Zynga. Once she was invited to the White House to blabber about game design and big data.

An adjunct professor of game design at UMBC and a regular speaker at conferences in the Atlanta and Baltimore metro areas, Michelle is also proud to serve as a Unity Instructor for Code in the Schools, a non-profit organization bringing programming courses to under-served youth in Baltimore City.

Originally from Louisiana, Michelle now lives in Baltimore with husband James, daughter Ciara, and 200 lbs of assorted sheep wool.

Sean Andrew Murray - Illustrator and Creator of Gateway

Sean Andrew Murray is a freelance illustrator, concept artist, author and teacher who has worked in the entertainment industry for nearly fifteen years, the bulk of which was working in video games on such titles as "Dungeons & Dragons Online," "The Lord of the Rings Online," "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" and an unannounced project at Harmonix Music Systems.

Aside from teaching concept art at the college level, Sean also occasionally runs his own 6-week long intensive online seminars on the subject of “world-building for concept artists and illustrators.”

Recently he began working for visionary film director, producer and author Guillermo Del Toro on a television series called “Carnival Row” as well as an illustrated young-adult novel titled “Trollhunters."

The production of Sean’s illustrated fantasy book, "Gateway: The Book of Wizards," was funded by a successful 2012 Kickstarter campaign. The book was a primer for a fantasy world centered on a vast city called “Gateway”, which Sean has been working on in his sketchbooks for over 15 years.

He lives in Kingston, NY with his wife Kathleen, and his son Connor.

UNITED STATES

The game will ship from the US and is free to all backers in the United States - for the game ONLY. Add-ons from higher pledge tiers, like the books and the playmat, will require a small extra shipping fee since they ship separately ($2 - $5)

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

We realize that international shipping is costly, but we would like to make our game available to everyone around the world.

Here is what we are doing:

Estimated shipping costs for just the game box will be added after your pledge via the new Kickstarter shipping system as follows: Canada - $15 EU - $20 Worldwide $30+

Since we will be using an Amazon warehouse - there MAY BE SOME COUNTRIES WE CANNOT SHIP TO - in this case, you will need to arrange to have your game shipped to a US address so that you can use a freight-forwarding service. We will try to get a list up of countries we cannot ship to.

For rewards that have extras (Malcontent, Insurgent and Insurrectionist) - we will have to charge an additional shipping fee, since these items have to be sent separately (the game boxes will ship directly from our warehouse, the extras will be shipped by us). This may range anywhere from an additional $15 - $25 US depending on the final size and weight of the packaging. This will have to be collected after the campaign ends.

The above costs are estimates. Shipping prices can vary and change, and may require additional shipping costs later. We wish there was a way to make it cheaper for everyone outside of the US, but it's just the reality we are dealing with. We will keep everyone informed about shipping via updates.

A note on Russia/Russian-language countries - If the funding is successful - we are likely going to work with a game company partner in Russia to make a Russian-translated version of Gateway: Uprising. Sign up for the mailing list on Fishwizardpress.com if you want to stay informed as to when/if this happens.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

BACKER AVATARS!

Risks and challenges

We are trying to keep this fairly simple, folks. We have made a game, we think it is fun to play and looks great. We believe that you will have fun playing it too! So we don't want to jam up the works with too much extra stuff - we want to make sure we can get the game out to you as soon as possible.

If this game is successful, we have lots of great ideas for expanding upon the game and the World of Gateway itself!

Once the campaign is finished, we will be finalizing the art for the cards and the box and getting it out to the printers as soon as humanly possible. Our Printer/manufacturer has told us to expect anywhere from 5 to 8 months for delivery of the final product once we deliver the files to them. But, as you know, things happen and delays are always possible, so please keep that in mind. We will, of course, send updates at every turn if the funding is successful.

Thank you for all of your support, we would not be able to do it without you!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,000 or more
About US$ 1,000

Demagogue!

You will receive 2 copies of the game, the print-to-play version, a signed hardcover edition of "Gateway: The Book of Wizards", 2 deluxe playmats, 1 limited-edition art print, an original Sean Andrew Murray drawing and your likeness as a wizard incorporated into one of the cards!